Metal container



May 28, 1940 E. BOURLAND -2,202,084

METAL CONTAINER Filed May 19, 1957 Patented May 28, 1940 2,202,084cMETAL CONTAINER Eli Bourland, Philadelphia, Pa., assigner to Crown CanCompany, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania ApplicationMay 19, 1937, Serial No. 143,593 Y 4 Claims.

.elicient in operation and may be economically included in the containerstructure;

Numerous types of locking means have heretofore been provided to securethe cover of a metal container upon the container body, but

most or such locking means have projected outwardly from the Wall of thecontainer. Obviously, when the locking means projects outwardly from thecontainer body, the skirt of the con-l tainer cover will be bulgedoutwardly with the result that a close seal will not be provided betweenthe inner wall of the cover skirt and the underlying po-rtion of thecontainer body.

An important object of the invention is to provide a locking means formetal containers which will not affect the seal between the containerbody and the container cover.

Another disadvantage of locking means fo metal containers as heretoforeproduced has been that the locking means` was of such design that thecontainer cover could not be` applied to the container body unless itwas firstv carefully positioned with respect to the locking means uponthe container body, since if it were not positioned in proper manner,the locking means on the A body and cover would become jammed withrespeci; to each other.

Another objectoi the invention is to provide a metalvcontainer includinglocking means of such type that the cover may be moved into locked 4Dposition upon the container body from practically any position withrespect to the container body, andV which is-also designed in suchmanner that no liamming can occur.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing specification and drawing, wherein 1 Figure l is asideeleva-tion of the container of the pre-sent invention;

Figure 2 a view in side elevation showing the cover spaced slightlyabove the container body;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 3 3 or Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view showing the cover spaced slightlyabove the container body; and

(Cl. 22o-40) Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view' showing the cover inlocked position upon the container body.

The numeral Eil designates the body of the container and the numeral i lindicates the con- 5 tainer cover.- The body of the container preferablyhas its top edge rolled inwardly as indicated in Figure 5 to form astrengthening bead l2, and a strengthening shoulder i3 is also formedabout the wall of the container body at a point spaced 10 somewhat belowthe upper edge bead l2. The container cover il may have an outwardlyrolled bead it at the lower edge of its skirt l5, and the upper portionof the skirt is preferably knurled as indicated at it to enable thecover to be l5 readily turned with respect to the container body..

At spaced points about the extreme upper portion of the container bodyit, that is, between the strengthening shoulder edge bead i12-,lockingmeans generally indicated by the numeral i8 are provided. Four suchlocking means as indicated in Figure 3 are ordinarily suiiicient, butthis number may be varied as desired. 25

Each locking means i8 comprises an entrance pocket 2t, one or morelocking pockets 2l and an abutment 22. The pockets 2li and 2| are formedby forcing the metal of the container' body inwardly as best shown inFigures V3 to 5, but 30 the abutment projects outwardly from the sur-`face of thebody, the abutment 22 thus being the only portion of thelocking means l'vvhich extends outwardly from the periphery of thecontainer. wardly along the side wall `of the container and opens to theupper edge of the latter, one side wall 23 being inclined inwardly anddownwardly, that is, toward the locking pocket 2l, to serve as a guide,and its opposite wall 24 extends longi- 40 y tudinally of the containerbody. The vertical wall correspondingly spaced from the rst locking 50 ipocket. The abutment 2i is closely adjacent the v near end of the lastlocking pocket so that it will serve as a stopfor a locking lug onvthecontainer cover seated in that pocket 2 I.

The container cover ll has locking lugs 28 55 y i3 and theupper 20 Theentrance pocket i8 extends 11D- 35 l formed in its skirt i5, the lockinglugs being so spaced that they maybe engaged with the locking means I8provided on the container body. The locking lugs 28 are also so spacedvfrom the top wall of the container cover Il that when the underside ofthe top wall bears upon the bead l2 at the upper edge of the containerbody, the lugs 28 will be in horizontal alignment with the lockingpockets 2|. Furthermore, the locking lugs 28 are of such size that whenthey are seated in the locking pockets 2l they will closely t thereinand thereby prevent the cover ll from moving relative to the containerbody.

As shown in Figure 2, the upper ends of the entrance pockets 2B of thelocking means I8 are of such width circumferentially of the containerbody that the locking lugs 28 may be readily positioned in the entrancepockets.

In use, as indicated in Figure 2, the cover Il may be so positioned withrespect to the container body Il! that each locking lug 2B will be aboveand in alignment with an entrance pocket 20 on the container body.Downward movement of the cover H will bring each lug 28 against thelower wall of the entrance pocket 20, the lug being guided clockwise (tothe left in Figure 2) toward the locking pocket 2l by the inclined wall23 of the entrance pocket. Further rotation of the cover in a clockwisedirection will cause each locking lug28 to pass into the under-cutportion 25 of the entrance pocket, and, with sucient turning forceapplied to the cover, the locking ,lug will move over the surface of thecontainer body and into the adjacent locking pocket 2l. If more than onelocking pocket is provided, the cover may be turned to position the lug28 in the last pocket, further movement in a clockwise direction'thenbeing prevented by the contact of @the lug with the abutment 22.

It will be noted that with the locking lug 28 seated in a locking pocket2l, the only element of the structure which will in any way tend to varythe circumferential symmetry of the cover skirt l5 will be the abutment22 and, in actual practice, this lug projects so slightly from theperiphery of the container body surface that there can be no distortionof the cover such as would affect the close seal of the cover withrespect to the container body. It is well known that where the lockingelements provided on the container body project from the wall of thelatter, the cover, when in closed position upon the container body, issubstantially bent or distorted with respect to the container body,thereby markedly aii'ecting the seal between the body and the cover.

It will be noted that even if the locking lugs 28 are not initiallypositioned in alignment with the .entrance pockets 2G, the cover H mayreadily be moved downwardly upon the container body, since no largenumber of projecting surfaces are provided upon the body to hinder suchmovement. For example, in the present invention, the

A'locking lugs may be moved downwardly over any lportion of the uppersurface of the container body, and when the cover l i is turnedsuiiciently in a clockwise direction, the lugs 2B will come in contactwith the abutments 22, indicating to the user that the cover is inlocked position upon the body. It will also be noted that when the lugs28 are positioned in the locking pockets 2|, the cover cannot be jammedwith respect to the container body, as is frequently the case withlocking structures including oppositely facing projections on thecontainer body and container cover, respectively.

The provision of abutments 22 to limit the movement of the containercover to locked position is most advantageous because the resistanceagainst further turning movement resulting from the contact of the lugs28 with the abutments 22 is suicient to advise the user that the coveris in locked position. In structures where the locking means on thecontainer comprises a series of outwardly projecting protuberances, allprojecting to a like extent from the container body surface, the userhas noway of knowing that the container cover is in final lockedposition withrespect to the container, and will frequently turn thecontainer cover past the last of the locking means. When this occurs,the cover must be turned in a reverse direction to lock it with respectto the container body.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the detailsof construction shown in the drawing; also, that the phraseologyemployed in the specification is for the purpose of description and notof limitation.

I claim:

1. A metal container comprising a container body and a container cover,the body having a plurality of locking means spaced about its upper end,each of the locking means comprising an entrance pocket in the outersurface of the container body opening to the upper edge of the latter, alocking pocket circumferentially spaced with respect to the entrancepocket, and an abutment projecting outwardly from the surface of thecontainer body at the side of the locking pocket distant from theentrance pocket, the container cover having a plurality of inwardlyprojecting lugs formed on the skirt thereof, said lugs being so spacedthat one will be arranged for alignment with each of the locking meanson the container body.

2. A metal container comprising a container body and a container cover,the body being provided with a plurality of locking means spaced aboutits upper end, each comprising an entrance pocket in the outer surfaceof the container body opening to the upper edge of the latter, one sidewall of the pocket being downwardly and inwardly inclined, a lockingpocket circumferentially spaced from the opposite side wall of theentrance pocket and of less width longitudinally of the container body,and an abutment projecting outwardly from the wall of the container bodyadjacent the far side of the locking pocket, the container cover havinga plurality of inwardly projecting lugs formed on the skirt thereof,said lugs being so spaced that one will be arranged for alignment witheach of the locking means on the container body.

3. A metal container comprising a container body and a container cover,the body being provided with a plurality of locking means spaced aboutits upper end, each comprising an entrance pocket in the outer surfaceof the container body and opening to the upper edge of the latter, oneside wall of the pocket being downwardly and inwardly inclined, theopposite side of the pocket having a circumferential extensiontherefrom, a locking pocket circumferentially spaced from the extensionof the entrance pocket and of the same width longitudinally of thecontainer body as the extension, and an abutment projecting outwardlyfrom the surface of the container body at the side of the locking pocketdistant from the entrance pocket, the container cover having a pockethavinga circumferential extension therefrom, and a locking pocketcircumferentially spaced from the extension of the entrance pocket andof the same width longitudinally of the container body as the extension,the container cover having a plurality of inwardly projecting lugsformed on the skirt thereof, said lugs being so spaced that one will bearranged for alignment with each of the locking means on the containerbody.

ELI BOURLAND.

